All Barbados registered ships are eligible to be inspected for safety before the ship is put into service or on first registry and annual thereafter. Should an accident occur which affects the safety of the ship or important repairs be made then the ship is required to be inspected to ensure its seaworthiness. National safety inspection certificates for all Barbadian ships are required to be renewed annually.
A ship can be inspected by technical officers of the Barbados Maritime Ship Registry or by any authorised Nautical Inspector. The inspection must cover hull, machinery, boiler, engines and other main propulsion gear, life saving appliances and fire detecting and fire extinguishing apparatus, to ensure that all such equipment complies with the relevant Convention requirements. These inspections include crew accommodation, documentation, cleanliness of engine room and other work areas and the competence of crew to operate the equipment found on board that particular ship. The inspector will also ensure that there is a mutually acceptable means of communication between the officers and principal seamen, either by use of a common language, or English.
As an added precaution against being detained by PSC, BMSR provides an annual surveillance of Barbados registered ships carried out against a checklist continuously updated to reflect the current areas of ships which are causing the most cases of ship detention. This programme named Safety Watch runs off the back of ongoing analysis of PSC detention lists carried out by BMSR.
Initial for vessels over 10 years of age: Structural Survey.
Cargo ship safety inspection: Compliance Check.
Safety Watch: Operational Check.
And are applied as follows :
Prior to registering
Vessels over 5 years of age: Cargo Ship Safety Inspection (then annually)
Vessels over 10 years of age: Initial for vessels over 10 years of age.
Vessels over 10 years of age: Safety Watch (then annually)
